Assault & Battery Assault On Public Safety

[Michael in ct]

Jurisdiction

Connecticut

A friend has been charged with assault on public safety personnel..
The accusation states that the victim (a doctor) attempted to help her find a number in her phone when my friend smacked her arm with the phone causing injury.

What my friend said was that the doctor was annoyed that she was on the phone and attempted to take the phone away from here and they wrestled for the phone briefly and then she turned around and said that she was pressing charges.
The police charged 3rd degree assault, the prosecutor upped it to felony assault of public safety.

Anyone have any advice?

 

[mightymoose]

Your friend needs to speak with an attorney. Regardless of which version of the story you gave is true, she still apparently assaulted the doctor with the phone and caused injury.
Hopefully with legal assistance the offense can be reduced, but that depends greatly on the severity of the injury that was caused.

I suspect some details are missing here, but based on what you have provided I suspect some degree of the charge will stick.

 

[Michael in ct]

Your friend needs to speak with an attorney. Regardless of which version of the story you gave is true, she still apparently assaulted the doctor with the phone and caused injury.
Hopefully with legal assistance the offense can be reduced, but that depends greatly on the severity of the injury that was caused.

I suspect some details are missing here, but based on what you have provided I suspect some degree of the charge will stick.

Question i have is
If the so called victim admits to grabbing the phone, at that point is it really an assault?

The other question is, the elements to the charge of an assault on public safety might not be met, specifically where is it in a doctor's duty to grab a phone out of someone's hand?

 

[adjusterjack]

If the so called victim admits to grabbing the phone, at that point is it really an assault?

Yes.

Having the phone taken out of one's hand is not an excuse for violence.

I'm sure that there is more to the story than you are telling.

What were the circumstances that brought your friend and the doctor together and where did this happen?

 

[Michael in ct]

Yes.

Having the phone taken out of one's hand is not an excuse for violence.

I'm sure that there is more to the story than you are telling.

What were the circumstances that brought your friend and the doctor together and where did this happen?

It was in a hospital
Abdominal pain that she believed was food poisoning.
Yes, there is more to the story, my friend was a complete bitch because she was in so much pain. She had a very bad attitude. But I'm sure that happens in a hospital setting.
I'm not sure if you read me right, my friend stated that she did not hit her with the phone, are you assuming that she did?
What right did the doctor have grabbing the phone out of a patients hand?

 

[army judge]

It was in a hospital
Abdominal pain that she believed was food poisoning.
Yes, there is more to the story, my friend was a complete bitch because she was in so much pain. She had a very bad attitude. But I'm sure that happens in a hospital setting.
I'm not sure if you read me right, my friend stated that she did not hit her with the phone, are you assuming that she did?
What right did the doctor have grabbing the phone out of a patients hand?

No one can say what will happen, but the judge presiding over her case, and the jury who'll eventually decide her fate.

Anything else is speculation, conjecture, or guessing.

 

[Michael in ct]

No one can say what will happen, but the judge presiding over her case, and the jury who'll eventually decide her fate.

Anything else is speculation, conjecture, or guessing.

Well, in the police officer's legal opinion he assumed a 3rd degree assault.
The prosecutor ups it to a 10 year felony

The police officer's statement says that her arm was red, they also stated that they took pictures however they weren't filed for the PC determination.
So i presume they can be turned over through discovery.
I find it a little bit excessive that a 3rd degree assault can be turned into a 10 year felony without even pleading the necessary elements of the statute.

 

[army judge]

Well, in the police officer's legal opinion he assumed a 3rd degree assault.
The prosecutor ups it to a 10 year felony

The police officer's statement says that her arm was red, they also stated that they took pictures however they weren't filed for the PC determination.
So i presume they can be turned over through discovery.
I find it a little bit excessive that a 3rd degree assault can be turned into a 10 year felony without even pleading the necessary elements of the statute.

Your friend is INNOCENT until proven guilty in a court of law.
She's done nothing.
She's merely accused of doing something.

The police charge a crime.
The prosecutor can nolle prose qui the charge, or enhance it.
Apparently the prosecutor believes an enhanced charge is appropriate.

All your friend can and should do is remain silent, don't explain, plead not guilty, hire a lawyer, or ask the judge if she qualifies for a public defender.

That's it.

Then she waits.
She stays out of additional legal issues, keeps her mouth shut, and lets the legal process run its course.

 

[Michael in ct]

Your friend is INNOCENT until proven guilty in a court of law.
She's done nothing.
She's merely accused of doing something.

The police charge a crime.
The prosecutor can nolle prose qui the charge, or enhance it.
Apparently the prosecutor believes an enhanced charge is appropriate.

All your friend can and should do is remain silent, don't explain, plead not guilty, hire a lawyer, or ask the judge if she qualifies for a public defender.

That's it.

Then she waits.
She stays out of additional legal issues, keeps her mouth shut, and lets the legal process run its course.

The problem is, yes she is obviously innocent until proven guilty but you are disadvantaged in defending against a charge like this, many believe you to be guilty.
Some people might say, why would a doctor lie?

 

[Highwayman]

You were not there and you do not know what actually happened.

Your friend needs an attorney, not you blabbing about what she did on the Internet.

 

[adjusterjack]

It was in a hospital
Abdominal pain that she believed was food poisoning.
Yes, there is more to the story, my friend was a complete bitch because she was in so much pain. She had a very bad attitude. But I'm sure that happens in a hospital setting.

Then what was your friend doing with the phone when she was in so much pain while the doctor was trying to attend to her?

 

[Michael in ct]

Then what was your friend doing with the phone when she was in so much pain while the doctor was trying to attend to her?

Trying to call a loved one.

I just realized something else.
They lied about the time it happened.
It happened at 11 pm
And they claim that it happened at 4 am
So why did they take 5 hours to call the police?

 

[mightymoose]

It may have taken 5 hours for police to respond. The time on reports is sometimes confusing.
Your friend needs to be concerned with the severity of the alleged injury. The less the injury the more an attorney can help to bring the charge back to something reasonable.
Who knows why the doctor may have grabbed at the phone, but regardless of the reason the struggle should not have occurred. It is quite likely there are multiple witnesses that will attest to your friends angry and uncooperative attitude that will tend to support the doctors claim.

 

[army judge]

The problem is, yes she is obviously innocent until proven guilty but you are disadvantaged in defending against a charge like this, many believe you to be guilty.
Some people might say, why would a doctor lie?

In this country, a criminal defendant's INNOCENCE isn't a problem.
It's a CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT.
Her problem, if there is a problem, is her alleged behavior.
Why?
Because if independent witnesses corroborate the victim's story, that can be very damaging for your friend.

Which is why her friends should stop talking, too.

 

[Michael in ct]

It may have taken 5 hours for police to respond. The time on reports is sometimes confusing.
Your friend needs to be concerned with the severity of the alleged injury. The less the injury the more an attorney can help to bring the charge back to something reasonable.
Who knows why the doctor may have grabbed at the phone, but regardless of the reason the struggle should not have occurred. It is quite likely there are multiple witnesses that will attest to your friends angry and uncooperative attitude that will tend to support the doctors claim.

Ummm no. I know how to read a police report.
It's not confusing at all.
They waited 5 hours to call police, they called upon her discharge.
It makes sense now, it all does.
My friend stated that she was going to sue the doctor because they forced a a catheter in her. This happened immediately after she arrived in the hospital. The whole situation did.

 

[leslie82]

It was in a hospital
Abdominal pain that she believed was food poisoning.
Yes, there is more to the story, my friend was a complete bitch because she was in so much pain. She had a very bad attitude. But I'm sure that happens in a hospital setting.
I'm not sure if you read me right, my friend stated that she did not hit her with the phone, are you assuming that she did?
What right did the doctor have grabbing the phone out of a patients hand?

Were you there when this alleged incident happened? If not, then you have no idea what truly happened.